Accidental Dignity

Meaning

Traditional astrology judges a planet's strength in two separate ways. Essential dignity asks what the planet is like where it stands in the zodiac: is it in its own sign, its exaltation, or a sign where it is a stranger? Accidental dignity asks what the planet can actually do in this particular chart: is it prominent or hidden, moving normally or backwards, free in the sky or lost in the Sun's glare?

A common way of putting the difference: essential dignity describes a planet's character and resources, accidental dignity describes its position and opportunity. A well-dignified planet in a weak accidental state is like a capable person stuck in a back room; a debilitated planet in a strong accidental state is like an unqualified person placed in charge. Both kinds of information are needed for a full judgement.

The word accidental comes from the old philosophical distinction between what belongs to a thing's essence and what merely happens to it (Latin accidens, "that which befalls"). A planet's sign rulerships never change; its house, speed and relation to the Sun change from chart to chart.

The main accidental conditions are:

Origin and history

The conditions themselves are much older than the name. Hellenistic astrologers of the first centuries CE already ranked the places (houses) by their power: Dorotheus lists the Ascendant, Midheaven and the eleventh place as the best, and the sixth and twelfth as the worst [1]. In the next chapter he says that a planet under the Sun's rays loses its power and that a retrograde planet brings difficulty [1]. Ptolemy describes how the planets' powers vary with their phase relative to the Sun [2] and, when discussing length of life, ranks the Midheaven and the rising place above the other places and sets aside the 12th, the 8th and the whole region below the earth [2]. Paulus Alexandrinus devotes a chapter to the phases the planets make with the Sun, saying that planets close to the Sun are ineffectual [3], and another to the "declines" (the cadent places), which he says can become active only under special conditions [3].

Astrologers writing in Arabic gathered these scattered rules into lists. Al-Bīrūnī, writing in 1029, defines the bands of distance from the Sun (the "heart of the Sun", combustion, under the rays) and says that a planet's influence is greatest in the heart of the Sun and least in combustion [4] and summarises when a planet is said to be "joyful" and when it is in "prosperity" or "adversity" according to its house [4].

The best-known version in English is William Lilly's. In Christian Astrology (1647) he ranks the houses in order of strength [5] and, at the end of his chapter of definitions, prints "A ready Table whereby to examine the Fortitudes and Debilities of the Planets", which gives each essential and accidental condition a number of points to add or subtract [5]. That table is the direct ancestor of most modern dignity scores, including the one on this site.

How it is used

In a horary or natal judgement the astrologer first looks at a planet's essential state (what kind of help or harm it can give), then at its accidental state (how much it can deliver, and how visibly). Lilly's table allows the two to be added up; this site does the same, using point values adapted from Lilly:

The site simplifies Lilly in two ways: it scores the house classes uniformly rather than house by house, and it adds a score for the planetary joys, which Lilly's table does not include. Lilly also gives points for swift or slow motion, for partile aspects to the benefics and malefics, and for conjunction with certain fixed stars; those are not scored here.

Authorities disagree on several details, discussed in the individual articles: whether the cadent houses are all weak or only the sixth and twelfth [5][6]; how wide the orbs of combustion and the Sun's beams should be [3][4][5]; and whether the Moon can be combust at all.

Many modern practitioners treat the points as a checklist rather than a verdict. A total can hide a single decisive condition, such as a significator that is combust, and Lilly himself works through his table on example charts rather than treating the sum as final [5].

Examples

• Strong in nature, weak in circumstance. Venus in Pisces (exalted, +4 essential) in the 12th house, retrograde and combust. On this site: cadent −2, retrograde −5, combust −5, a total of −12 accidental. Venus has good intentions but little ability to act on them openly.
• Weak in nature, strong in circumstance. Saturn in Aries (in fall, −4 essential) on the Midheaven, direct and oriental. On this site: angular +4, direct +2, oriental +2, a total of +8 accidental. Saturn is prominent and effective, but what it produces reflects its poor essential state.
• In its joy. Mars in the 6th house scores cadent −2 but joy +3 on this site: a weak house for most planets, yet the one where Mars was traditionally said to rejoice.

See also

For how the numbers are combined into a single figure, see the article on the dignity score.